Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter will begin testing a long-awaited accessibility feature today: reminders to add alternative text — or alt text — to image posts.
Alt text is a written description of what’s in an image and why it’s important. People who use screen readers, like blind and low-vision users, depend on alt text to understand tweets that contain a picture — think memes, screenshots of headlines, flyers for events, and more. Currently, anyone can write and add alt text for photos and GIFs they upload to Twitter, but it’s not required, and it takes a few clicks to add.
Twitter spokesperson Shaokyi Amdo says the feature will launch today, starting with a small group of users on iOS, Android, and web, with a wider rollout planned in the…